“My First Nations colleagues tell be that listening is most important. Listening is really the beginning of any relationship building. But what are we listening to? What are we listening for?” As July draws to a close and as we reflect on NAIDOC week held earlier this month, we wanted to keep the conversation going by delving more deeply
“My First Nations colleagues tell be that listening is most important. Listening is really the beginning of any relationship building. But what are we listening to? What are we listening for?”
As July draws to a close and as we reflect on NAIDOC week held earlier this month, we wanted to keep the conversation going by delving more deeply into the role that we, as health professionals, play in showing up for and supporting our First Nations communities and clients as allies.
In this episode of Digital Mental Health Musings, WellMob’s senior workforce development officer, Dr Mim Weber joins us to talk about her journey into allyship – what that looks like for her, how it can foster deeper connections with First Nations colleagues and clients and how WellMob’s digital tools and resources can help in your own journey.
WellMob, is an online platform developed by First Nations elders, educators and health professionals to help frontline workers access culturally safe tools and resources. It’s home to a wealth of dedicated training resources to help non-Indigenous health professionals understand the impact of colonisation and learn about culturally appropriate ways of connecting with First Nations people.
Before taking up her role at WellMob, Mim, who as a non-Indigenous practitioner, has worked with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander colleagues in several different jobs since the mid-1980s. As a social worker, Mim held a strong belief in the importance of social justice and taking a collaborative approach – a view that she says informs much of her practice today. And, as she explains, she really began to think more seriously about the concept of allyship during The Voice to Parliament referendum last year.
“I was appalled at the negative campaign and the outcome of the vote. I made a promise to myself that I would pursue being an ally this year and WellMob’s director, Dave Edwards, agreed for me to take it up through [our platform]”.
While Mim says her journey into allyship is just beginning, she shares her insight and advice into what genuine allyship can look like.
“For me, it means being clearer and more alert to the signs of systemic racism. Of discrimination or offensive comments or behaviour, even if unintentional. It means having that awareness and alertness more at the front of my consciousness and learning how and when to raise it. And it also means being more mindful to step back with my own commentary or opinion. To listen to and promote the perspectives of my First Nations colleagues, even when I think I’ve got something useful to say, I can sit back and listen. My First Nations colleagues tell me that listening is most important.”
As Mim says, listening is really the beginning of any relationship building. But, she asks, in allyship what are we listening for?
“What are we noticing? How are we listening? A teacher of mine once proposed that we will find what we are listening for; if we listen for deficits, we will find deficits. If we listen for strengths, we’ll find strengths. If we listen for hope and possibility, we’ll find that too.”
In this episode we look at the burden of cultural load that many of our First Nations clients and colleagues carry and how, as health professionals, we can turn to digital resources to help lighten that load. We discuss practicing with cultural humility and what it means to reflect on our own privilege and power in the relationships we share with our First Nations clients.
We also discuss the responsibility that non-Indigenous practitioners have to understand the ongoing impact of colonisation, the structural racism it has fostered and the impact it has now. And Mim shares her advice about what to do when we make mistakes in connecting along the way.
If you’ve ever asked yourself how as non-Indigenous Australians, and particularly as health professionals, you can begin to recognise and address racial inequality and become a genuine ally to your First Nations clients and colleagues, this conversation will give you plenty of insightful ideas and resources on where you can start.
Who is Mim Weber?
Dr Mim Weber (PhD) is a Social Worker with 13 years in Mental Health policy, programs, and training in Northern NSW, Bundjalung Country. Prior to that she worked in child and family health and eating disorders. She has also worked in South Australia and in the Pilbara in Western Australia in education, disability, health, and welfare positions. She has worked with WellMob since July 2022.
Check out some of the resources we discussed in this episode:
How to be a good ally: https://www.emhprac.org.au/news/how-to-be-a-good-ally/
Dadirri: https://wellmob.org.au/key-resources/resources/40613/
The Australian Wars: https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-series/the-australian-wars
Spotlight on WellMob: Connecting digital mental health to culturally responsive healthcare: https://www.emhprac.org.au/resource/s3e4/
The Healing Foundation: https://healingfoundation.org.au/
Australian Human Rights Commission – Racism, It stops with me: https://itstopswithme.humanrights.gov.au/
Speaking Out with Larissa Behrendt: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/speakingout
Intergenerational Trauma Animation: https://wellmob.org.au/key-resources/resources/35290/
Listen to the full conversation below. You can also access Digital Mental Health Musings on Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, and Deezer.
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